Onshore windfarms have for the first time won contracts in the Capacity Market.
Of the eight projects to enter, five secured agreements in the T-3 auction for delivery starting 2022/23.
The five projects are:
- Crookedstane – 25.4MW – BayWa r.e.
- Inverclyde – 24MW – BayWa r.e.
- Glen Kyllachy – 49.5MW – Innogy Renewables
- Beinn an Tuirc 3 – 50MW – Scottish Power Renewables
- Halsary – 28.5MW – Scottish Power Renewables
It was the first capacity auction in which wind and solar projects were eligible to bid. They were granted access by the government earlier this year and will also participate in the upcoming T-1 and T-4 auctions.
Due to their intermittent nature, wind and solar projects are subject to harsh de-rating factors – 8.2 per cent for onshore wind projects in the T-3 auction.
This means the 177.4MW of contracted nameplate capacity has been de-rated to just 14.5MW. With the auction clearing at a price of £6.44 per kilowatt per year, the 15-year contracts will therefore be worth around £1.4 million in total.
The auction also saw multiple coal plants fail to secure agreements, including EDF’s West Burton A power station. All four of its coal units have contracts in place for the current delivery year (2019/20), whilst three have also secured agreements for next winter (2020/21).
A spokesperson for EDF said: “While we ended generation at Cottam coal station last September, we have not yet set a date on the retirement of West Burton A and will continue to assess the situation for that station. The results of capacity market auctions and the wholesale energy market will be a part of this decision.
“Coal is playing a key role in ensuring security of supply during the transition to new low carbon generation and its participation in the auction ensures that customers get capacity at the lowest possible cost.”
Drax also failed to secure agreement for either of its two remaining coal units, whilst Uniper won contracts for two of the four units at Ratcliffe-on-Soar.
The government has pledged to phase out all unabated coal generation by 2025.